1978 in spaceflight

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1978 in spaceflight
Atlas Centaur with Pioneer Venus Orbiter.jpg
The Pioneer Venus Orbiter atop an Atlas-Centaur before launch
Orbital launches
First6 January
Last28 December
Total128
Catalogued 124
National firsts
Space traveller Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czechoslovakia
Flag of Poland.svg  Poland
Flag of East Germany.svg  East Germany DDR
Rockets
Retirements Atlas-Agena
Mu-3H
Crewed flights
Orbital5
Total travellers10

1978 saw the launch of the Pioneer Venus missions launched by the United States, on 20 May and 8 August. The Pioneer Venus Multiprobe landed four spacecraft on the planet, one of which transmitted data for 67 minutes before being destroyed by atmospheric pressure. ISEE-C, which was launched on 8 December, flew past comet 21P/Giacobini–Zinner in 1985, and Halley's Comet in 1986. [1]

Contents

Launches

Date and time (UTC) Rocket Flight number Launch site LSP
Payload
(⚀ = CubeSat)
Operator Orbit Function Decay (UTC)Outcome
Remarks

January

10 January
12:26:00
Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Soyuz-U Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Baikonur Site 1/5 Flag of the Soviet Union.svg
Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Soyuz 27 Low Earth (Salyut 6) Salyut 6 EP-1 16 March
11:18
Successful
Crewed flight with two cosmonauts
20 January
08:25
Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Soyuz-U Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Baikonur Site 31/6 Flag of the Soviet Union.svg
Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Progress 1 Low Earth (Salyut 6)Salyut 6 logistics8 February
02:00
Successful
Maiden flight of Progress spacecraft. First in-orbit refuel, from Progress to Salyut 6, 2nd Feb.
26 January
04:58
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Long March 2A Jiuquan, LA-2/138
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg FSW-0 3 Low Earth Reconnaissance 30 JanuarySuccessful
Re-entry capsule recovered on 30 January.

February

4 February
07:00
Flag of Japan.svg M-3H Flag of Japan.svg Kagoshima Space Center LP-M ISAS
Flag of Japan.svg EXOS-A (Kyokko)ISASHighly elliptical orbitMagnetosphere researchIn orbitSuccessful

March

2 March
15:28:10
Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Soyuz-U Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Baikonur Site 1/5 Flag of the Soviet Union.svg
Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Soyuz 28 Low Earth (Salyut 6)Salyut 6 EP-2 10 March
11:24
Successful
Crewed flight with two cosmonauts, first Czechoslovakian in space

May

20 May
13:13:00
Flag of the United States.svg Atlas SLV-3D Centaur Flag of the United States.svg Cape Canaveral LC-36A Flag of the United States.svg
Flag of the United States.svg Pioneer Venus Orbiter NASA/ARC Cytherocentric Venus orbiter 22 October 1992Successful
Entered 181.6 x 66,360-km orbit around Venus on 4 December 1978.

June

15 June
20:16:45
Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Soyuz-U Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Baikonur Site 1/5 Flag of the Soviet Union.svg
Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Soyuz 29 Low Earth (Salyut 6)Salyut 6 EO-2 31 September
11:40
Successful
Crewed flight with two cosmonauts
16 June
10:49
Flag of the United States.svg Delta 2914 Flag of the United States.svg Cape Canaveral LC-17B Flag of the United States.svg
Flag of the United States.svg GOES 3 NOAA Geostationary Weather In orbitSuccessful
Decommissioned on 29 June 2016.
27 June
15:27:21
Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Soyuz-U Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Baikonur Site 1/5 Flag of the Soviet Union.svg
Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Soyuz 30 Low Earth (Salyut 6)Salyut 6 EP-3 5 July
13:30
Successful
Crewed flight with two cosmonauts, first Pole in space

August

8 August
07:33
Flag of the United States.svg Atlas SLV-3D Centaur Flag of the United States.svg Cape Canaveral LC-36A Flag of the United States.svg
Flag of the United States.svg Pioneer Venus Multiprobe Bus NASA/ARC Heliocentric Venus atmospheric probe 9 December 1978
20:22:55
Successful
Flag of the United States.svg Pioneer Venus Large Probe NASA/ARC Heliocentric Venus atmospheric probe 9 December 1978
19:39:53
Successful
Flag of the United States.svg Pioneer Venus North Probe NASA/ARC Heliocentric Venus atmospheric probe 9 December 1978
19:42:40
Successful
Flag of the United States.svg Pioneer Venus Night Probe NASA/ARC Heliocentric Venus atmospheric probe 9 December 1978
19:52:07
Successful
Flag of the United States.svg Pioneer Venus Day Probe NASA/ARC Heliocentric Venus atmospheric probe 9 December 1978
20:55:34
Successful
Day Probe survived landing, sent data for an additional 67 minutes afterward. First American probe to send data from the surface of Venus.
12 August
14:12:00
Flag of the United States.svg Delta 2914 Flag of the United States.svg Cape Canaveral LC-17B Flag of the United States.svg
Flag of the United States.svg Flag of Europe.svg International Sun-Earth Explorer-3 (ISEE-3)/International Cometary Explorer (ICE) NASA/ESRO Sun/Earth L1 to Heliocentric Probing interaction of Earth's magnetic field with solar wind, later cometary researchIn orbitSuccessful
First probe stationed at Sun/Earth L1 Lagrangian point. Later entered heliocentric orbit, encountering Comet Giacobini–Zinner on 11 September 1985. It would also study Halley's Comet from a distance in 1986.
26 August
14:51:30
Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Soyuz-U Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Baikonur Site 1/5 Flag of the Soviet Union.svg
Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Soyuz 31 Low Earth (Salyut 6)Salyut 6 EP-4 2 November
11:04
Successful
Crewed flight with two cosmonauts, first East German in space

September

16 September
05:00
Flag of Japan.svg M-3H Flag of Japan.svg Kagoshima Space Center LP-M Flag of Japan.svg ISAS
Flag of Japan.svg EXOS-B (Jikiken)ISASHighly elliptical orbitMagnetosphere research23 April 2018Successful

October

3 October
23:09:30
Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Soyuz-U Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Baikonur Site 31/6 Flag of the Soviet Union.svg
Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Progress 4 Low Earth (Salyut 6)Salyut 6 logistics26 October
16:28
Successful

Deep Space Rendezvous

Date (GMT)SpacecraftEventRemarks
4 December Pioneer Venus Orbiter Cytherocentric orbit insertion
9 December Pioneer Venus Multiprobe Venerian atmospheric entryThe bus, one large and three small subprobes
21 December Venera 12 Venerian landing
25 December Venera 11 Venerian landing

EVAs

Start Date/TimeDurationEnd TimeSpacecraftCrewRemarks
29 July
04:00
2 hours
20 minutes
06:20 Salyut 6
PE-2
Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Vladimir Kovalyonok
Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Aleksandr Ivanchenkov
Ivanchenkov retrieved samples and experiments attached to the outside of Salyut. Kovalyonok assisted with the retrievals and used a color television camera to transmit EVA images to the ground controllers.

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References

Generic references:
RocketSunIcon.svg Spaceflightportal

Footnotes

  1. Hughes, J (1996) Larousse Desk Reference Encloypedia London RD Press